Academic and activist perspectives on human rights

Tag Archives: Sally Merry

Sally Merry, Adjunct Professor at RegNet and Professor of Anthropology in the Institute for Law and Society at New York University, returns to the CIGJ next week. On Tuesday she will present a seminar considering how the soft power of international human rights law is hardened through the use of quantitative performance measures.

A human rights assessment of the proposed needle and syringe exchange program in Canberra’s prison

Next week’s post, written by Anita Mackay – a recent visitor at the CIGJ – considers the human rights implications of the needle and syringe exchange program which the ACT government wants to introduce in Canberra’s Alexander Maconochie prison. The program aims to reduce the spread of blood-borne viruses in the prison, where up to 65% of inmates have Hepatitis C and there is evidence to suggest some prisoners contracted the virus while in prison.

Welcome to Dr Susan Harris Rimmer

Susan Harris Rimmer has recently joined the ANU School of Regulation, Justice and Diplomacy as Director of Studies for the Asia-Pacific College of Diplomacy.

Susan brings 14 years’ experience as a lawyer, researcher, campaigner, and policy analyst on issues of human rights, refugees, international development, and women’s policy to the APCD. She is the outgoing President of Australian Lawyers for Human Rights, and a past board member of the UN Women National Committee Australia. Susan is the author of Gender and Transitional Justice: The Women of East Timor (Routledge 2010) and many refereed articles, and was the winner of the 2006 Audre Rapoport Prize for Scholarship on the Human Rights of Women.

Susan’s research encompasses a broad range of issues in human rights, feminism, and international law; we at Regarding Rights are particularly looking forward to learning more about her developing work in diplomacy, human rights and civil society movements, and on the role of diplomacy as a normative practice to diminish conflict.

Sally Merry to Visit CIGJSally Merry, Adjunct Professor at RegNet and Professor of Anthropology in the Institute for Law and Society at New York University, returns to the CIGJ in March. Sally is the author (with Mark Goodale) of The Practice of Human Rights: Tracking Law Between the Global and the Local and of Human Rights and Gender Violence: Translating International Law into Local Justice. Her work highlights what she describes as ‘the vernacularisation’ of rights, or how international human rights are interpreted and realised at the local level.

Visiting PhD Scholarships Reminder
A reminder to PhD scholars that applications for visiting scholarships at the Centre, close at the end of this month.

The ASEAN Human Rights Declaration – Cause for Celebration?
Civil society organisations have long advocated for a regional Human Rights mechanism for South East Asia. Their efforts were finally rewarded on the 18 November 2012, with the Phnom Penh Statement heralding the adoption of the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration. But is the Declaration really cause for celebration? Continue reading →